I did one of my trail runs with my running group here at Spray Valley Provincial Park. This was…read moredefinitely the most scenic run that I did during my trip. Spray Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park located along the Spray River in Alberta, Canada. Spray Valley borders Banff National Park. The park features forests, alpine lakes and rugged peaks. Activities in Spray Valley include camping, hiking, canoeing and fishing. We ran on the Chester Lake Trail to beautiful Chester Lake. The views along the way were just breathtaking. At the lake, you get a glimpse of both Gusty Peak and The Fortress. The water was so clear and had a nice reflection of the surrounding mountains and clouds. I stopped at the foot of the lake to enjoy its beauty before jumping back onto the trail to finish my run. The trails in Spray Valley Provincial Park are a mix of easy, moderate and challenging trails. Spray Lakes West Campground is the main campground in Spray Valley. There are many lakes within the park with Spray Lakes Reservoir being the largest. The Smith-Dorrien Trail (also known as Spray Lakes Road) is a scenic drive on a dirt road that has incredible views of the valley and mountains. A Kananaskis Conservation Pass is required for vehicle parking.

A friend of mine recommended the Troll Hike in Kananaskis country so we ducked out of Banff for an…read moreafternoon of exploring the parks just outside. It was beautiful! Mountains galore and lots of great outdoorsy opportunities for winter and warmer weather alike. During our drive we happened to see a bunch of guys in a parking lot near the road loading and unloading kayaks. Most of the water we had seen had been frozen so I was curious to see what the river looked like so my husband and I pulled over. I read the little guide at the start of the trailhead and it informed us that this part of the river is rapids heavy and a well loved route for extreme kayakers, with a course mapped out with markers and everything. We took the short stroll to the water and enjoyed watching a few fellas do their thing in the raging water. The water was bright blue and SO beautiful. It was a highlight of our day and we didn't even plan on it! Check it out if you're in the area. I wish I could remember where exactly it was in the park, but follow the river and you should be able to find it!

This is a hidden private gem of a campground. The family run campground was well maintained. The…read morepeople were very friendly. Kathy from New Mexico, USA

Actually just 4 stars because I can't give 5 because of minor issue. 4 nights super convenient to…read morethe city for site seeing. Hidden in a tiny valley but just drive to the top of the hill and the view is amazing. Friendly and welcoming staff even for a us citizen (2025), lol. Travelers like me will love being next to the office/store. Gold WiFi is so so but better than using musk.

We had a great stay at Ghost station. Full serviced sites, very clean, friendly staff and a little…read moreshop onsite. Yes there is a highway close by, but it's not Highway 1, therefore it was not too loud at night.

Don't waste your time going out there if your Rv is 10 years old or older. my daughter and I got…read moreturned away because of this. You're a little campground on the side of a loud ass highway and nothing for kids to do. You're trying to bring in these house on wheel's but I guess you haven't figured it out they all go stay in town at rivers edge, which had zero problems taking my money. Thanks anyways.

Slum Camping with owners to match…read more Well, to say that this is a run down campground is a MASSIVE understatement. It is like camping in the slums of a third world country. The website shows NO likeness whatsoever. As you drive up to the Campground, it looks like a garbage dump or a salvage yard. The campsites are as rough. The roads have big divets from the rain with no maintenance, the sites are not maintained and are extremely ungroomed. The washroom facilities are a joke! When we checked in, we were told the power is out and the washrooms were closed but no discount. They nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING! My daughter and friend went to the General Store as they watched a couple of little kids buying ice cream (which was beyond inflated pricing), gave the cashier $50 and she failed to give them change until my daughter spoke up. Shameful! We then got evicted as the owner, Stacy, thought we were a different site claiming we hadn't paid and that we had a tent on site. We did not. We were then threatened by Stacy, that the RCMP had been called which would hae been a welcome interaction but she was unwilling to discuss. We waited but the RCMP never came. We went into the office to clarify where we were then berated, name called, yelled at, threatened and sworn at by the owner. Low grade, unprofessional and need serious lessons on customer service. What a disgrace! SLUM CAMPING.......

Not at all like the photo's. False advertising. Looks like a rundown trailor park. Very…read moredissapointed. We didn't stay both nights. The showers and "washrooms" are terrible. Needs a total upgrade. The only good thing was the friendly staff.

Paddy's Flat is a piece of privacy that's close to Calgary. At only about a 45 minute drive from…read moreCalgary and 20 minutes from Bragg creek, Paddy's Flat offers an opportunity for the entire family to feel at home in nature without too much "are we there yet are we there yet?!" along the drive. The campsites are decently spacious, well for us tent folk anyway. I'm not sure what pulling you 50 foot bus up is like. What I love about this campground is the short walk to the river and the paths that you can access from here. Following the main path to the river, you can access some prime rocks for hanging out, soaking up the sun and on a hot day, jumping into that glacier water, screaming a blood curdling scream, and clawing your way back to the shore. It's the worst, but you can't help but feel so alive!

This place reminds me of Saskatchewan camping. Few amenities, fairly flat, low key and wide open…read morespaces. I won't lie, I had some anxiety knowing bears were lurking in the bushes (there had been sitings the day I set up) and I was woken up at night once by noise that had my heart in my throat. Otherwise, it was all good. :-)

Heard many great things about this place so we booked in for 5 nights during the summer. I read…read moresome reviews online about it before we went, I tend to do this to see if anything unusual stands out (ghosts, bug infestations, bears gnawing on people, etc) which would help us prepare. We arrived and were in awe of the beauty of the campground. Growing up in small towns we are not glampers, nor do we like to camp on top of our neighbors with little or no tree coverage/privacy. The loop we were in was treed, luscious and campsites were large. There are all kinds of adventurous things to do here. Hiking, biking, volleyball nets, tennis court, small kiddie swimming pool (for the kiddies of course) and an amphitheater with nightly shows. They further had craft hour and/or scavenger hunts for the kids and a gift shop in the main building. If you get bored you can drive 30 minutes to Canmore and wander around. This campground is huge, truly fabulous and only an hour out of Calgary. Be sure to be on your game when it comes to booking 3 months in advance as the campsites fill up quickly.

AVOID THIS PLACE!!! Small, crappy sites, poorly maintained…read moreand $50/night. Not worth it at any cost!!!

Had no choice but to book here, knew the reviews were bad, but I needed a place to put my RV. I…read morewill not do it again. They put no care into anything! Bathroom were disgusting no soap. Camp grounds are not maintained! Yes it is next to the train and they say it in there website but that was not as bad as the mosquitoes, the constant smell of pot from a black trailer that I think stays all year, and the downwind smell of the bathroom. Considering every lot is full they must be making money. Put some TLC into it please.

All I can say after reading a couple of the other reviews is "REALLY?"…read more.. I've found the staff that run ANY Kananaskis campground to try unbelievably hard to make your stay pleasant. They clean up the site after the previous renter leaves, and they try to keep a lid on noisy sites while still letting people have fun. The Conservation Officers are there for some very real reasons. If you get a visit from them, they are doing the rest of us a favor by encouraging your behavior to change, so that they don't have to deal with the consequences of a bear becoming aggressive. As much as I would prefer to be alone when I'm out there, I don't think these reviews are fair. After all, outhouses are what they are, and plowing in a bunch of plumbing means the overall quality of the experience goes down, since the sites generally get closer, and the trees in between sites disappear. Lots of golf course style sites in other parks, if you want a flushing biffy and cell phone service, try Tunnel Mountain in Banff. They've almost paved the whole park by now, so you might feel more at home. If you have a family and are looking to reserve a site in a good location, close to lots of things to do, in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, and you want your vacation to go smoothly, I would strongly recommend you try this Campground. Yes, there are Bears, Bugs, and Outhouses. Sometimes Whisky Jacks, Hoary Marmots, Fishers, Coyotes, Wolves, some of the largest Bull Trout in Western Canada, and Great Horned Owls. They live there. We're just visiting....

The staff there is shady. our first time camping in a bear…read morecountry. ( didn't pay attention to the sigh at the entrance) We woke up to a conservation officer. got a ticket for almost $200 for having beers and empties out. ( seriously, 2 cans of beer in a cooler and some empties) Did a little research after i got home, apparently staffs normally leave a note or knock on your door if you are leaving anything out and they will call the officer if you don't clean up. But we had no warnings at all!!!!!!! only one sign before you enter the campground. on top of that, NO CELL PHONE RECEPTION 40 MINS DRIVE IF YOU NEED IT. LOVELY. I DON'T THINK THEY TELL YOU THAT WHEN U BOOK IT EITHER Never going back there again !!!!!

Some Yelpers and I went on a snowshoeing excursion to the Hogarth Lakes Snowshoe Loop. The highways…read morethrough the park were ploughed, clear and well sanded. The signage on the highway was easy to read. The trail that we were on was active and it hadn't snowed in a few days so there was a solid path to follow, but if there hadn't been, the path was well marked with brightly coloured markers on the trees along the way. The trail was pretty easy and made for a nice little hike across a couple small lakes. The parking areas were clean which was a good sign as I didn't notice garbage containers provided which means people are packing everything out that they bring in.

This park is spectacular, literally words actually fail me I've never seen such beauty except in…read moreNew Zealand. I've been traveling around to provincial and national parks for 40 years, most of my time has been spent in Ontario in Algonquin, but my favorite country in the world is New Zealand, and this trip yesterday to best provincial park in Alberta literally is the only place in my life I've seen that rivals New Zealand. Anyway I don't even want to post this review because I don't want the place to get as popular as it deserves, But I just noticed I have over 20,000 viewers of my yelp page so I guess you guys deserve some rewarding gossip and advice. I highly recommend, it's absolutely gorgeous. Look at these photos and video. The only problem is meeting an obnoxious German Ranger lady who freaked out and screamed at me because I parked my car somewhere that said no picnicking... She screamed that I had to park it on the dam, which actually was much more convenient for where we were trying to get to, We were fishing at the dam but there were no sign saying it's OK to park on the dam. Why would it be better to park on a dam where there is very narrow road, versus parking way off to the side where there is a massive field and picnic benches that were deserted to come out enough room to park 100 cars and not a single person there. I pointed out to her that there is a sign that said no picnicking, but I'm not eating anything, she screamed that it says no picnicking which means also no parking and no nothing!!!!! I didn't realize that no picnicking meant no parking! How did I live on my life without realizing that signs that warn no picnicking mean actually no doing anything at all!? I felt like telling her she was totally living up to the stereotype of overregulated Canadian indentured civil servants but why waste my time when I have such beautiful mountains and turquoise lakes to look at!